


A Home, for the Holidays

by zen_fox



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:39:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zen_fox/pseuds/zen_fox
Summary: Three Christmases, in the lives of three soulmates.





	A Home, for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> My @aftgexchange entry for @palmettofoxden! This is just pure Christmas fluff, which was not the fic I intended on writing, but I think it still turned out okay.

* * *

**two years ago**

* * *

 

Kevin's not doing so well.

He never complains about missing them when they speak, and he messages them as often as ever, but Andrew knows better. He could put it down to some sort of soulmate sense, but it's probably nothing as romantic as that. He just knows Kevin, that's all, and Kevin is nothing if not skilled at putting up a good front for people at a distance. Although nobody will ever be closer to him than Andrew and Neil, the fact remains that there is literal distance between them right now.

Ninety minutes by car should be nothing, but after three years living in each others' pockets, even Andrew is feeling the distance. Five months in and he still misses Kevin's presence at his side— there isn't a day that goes by where he doesn't turn to say something to him only to find a conspicuous absence in the shape of a sulky, over-sized striker.

So he's concerned, even if he doesn't want to admit it: Andrew and Neil have each other, and a full classload on top of their Exy schedule to keep them busy, but now Kevin is alone, and even a Pro schedule only takes up so many hours out of the day.

Kevin likes his team well enough, but he's never been one to socialise or make friends, and besides: his time with the Chargers is limited. There's no point in getting attached; he's said as much to Andrew. He's only there until Neil graduates, and then it's on to bigger and better things.  

Although they didn't have the reputation of some of the better teams, Wymack   and the Chargers' coach were old friends, and he'd facilitated a pretty sweet deal for Kevin as Starting Striker, combined with a guaranteed offer for Andrew on graduation. It gave Kevin enough court time to hone his skills and demonstrate his worth, kept him close to Palmetto, and meant Andrew can join him when he finishes school so they can wait for Neil together.

It should have been perfect— The Chargers have already risen four points in the rankings, and that kind of success always makes Kevin giddy, but the satisfaction had been absent from his voice in their last phonecall.

Andrew doesn't like it.

Neither does Neil, apparently; he arrives back to their dorm after his last final with a small plastic tree in his arms and a determined look on his face.

"We need to drive up to see Kevin. Tonight."

He looks like he's expecting an argument —they aren't due to go to Charlotte for another three days— but Andrew only nods and reaches for his keys.

"All right."

The drive is quiet; three twists of the dial finds nothing but Christmas music on every station, so Andrew kills the sound and focuses on the road instead.

A few moments later, Neil's fingers slot through his. His thumb swipes over the mark on Neil's wrist, and he feels the tension bleeding out of him, his foot easing up on the gas.

They still make it to Charlotte in record time, parking in one of the visitor spaces outside. Andrew hates it, the declaration of being a  _visitor_  in Kevin's life, something temporary and transient, but what really matters is that he has a fob for the front door, that Neil has a key for Kevin's apartment, that they can walk in any time just like they would have to their dorm at Palmetto when Kevin still lived there.

...But probably they wouldn't have found Kevin sitting in the dark drinking out of a bottle of vodka, then. He winces when Neil puts on the lights, slapping one hand over his eyes.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Celebrating Christmas," Neil says, looking around and sniffing. "People do that in breweries, right?"

Kevin makes a rude gesture, but Neil's already depositing his little tree onto a table littered with too many bottles and crawling into his lap. Kevin curls one hand around Neil's ankle above the skin where his name is written and rests the other at the nape of his neck. Neil's breath catches at the touch, and Kevin immediately looks steadier for it.

"You brought me a tree?" he asks, blinking up at Andrew.

"Neil brought you a tree," Andrew corrects, then reaches inside his coat to remove a thick, A4-sized envelope. "I brought you this."

He smacks Kevin in the shoulder with it, then goes to the kitchen to make coffee.

A few moments later, Kevin appears in the doorway; he still smells of booze, but his eyes are clear. Andrew presses a mug into his hands and Kevin's fingers knot into his sleeve.

"You signed the contract."

"Reserve Goalkeeper for the Charlotte Chargers as of next July. Did you think I wouldn't sign?"

The words are a challenge, but he sees no lie or hesitation in Kevin's gaze.

"No, I knew you would. It still means something to see it."

All these years, and Andrew still hates him.

"Shut up," he says, taking the coffee back from him before Kevin can take so much as a sip. Andrew nudges him back against the wall, one hand at the base of his throat, the other pushing up his sleeve to press his palm to the imprint of his name on Kevin's arm. Kevin shivers, breathes his name and  _Yes_ , then leans down to kiss him, and for a little while there's nothing but the burn of vodka and the sensation of a piece of him that was missing slotting back into his heart.

"Seven months," he says, when they part. "Seven months, Kevin. That's all."

Kevin leans his forehead against Andrew's and shuts his eyes.

"I know. I know. It's just Christmas..."

He trails off. They don't talk about it; they never talk about it. Maybe they should.

"You could just say you missed us," Neil says from the doorway, startling them both, though Andrew makes a better hand of concealing it than Kevin. "We'd have come sooner if we'd known."

"I didn't want to disturb you. You had finals, practice, that game against Breckenridge..."

Andrew tunes them out as the conversation turns to Exy, instead letting his attention be consumed by the way Kevin's skin feels under his fingers, the way Neil's chin rests on his shoulder, the sense of homecoming that he always feels when he's with them, no matter where they are.

Maybe they should talk about it, all of it, but for right now it's enough just to be with one another, and to enjoy the season together.

 

* * *

**one year ago**

* * *

 

"Go inside, Neil."

Neil shakes his head, though his fingers are almost numb around the cigarette. The view below is too pretty, and out here has Andrew. Kevin's not back yet, so the choice is between being outside and freezing with his boyfriend versus being warm inside alone.

It's an easy call for Neil to make. He thought he would always feel most at home in Fox Tower, but it's different with Andrew and Kevin gone; now, he's just itchy to graduate and reclaim his place at their side. On Kevin's advice, his schedule is as packed as he can keep it, but he still misses them, and now he lives for two things: his time on the court, and these weekends with them.

The prospect of having to go back to school alone once the holidays are over turns his attention from the city below to Andrew so he can soak up all the time with him he can get.

After a moment, Neil decides he likes that view better anyway.

"You are an idiot. You do know that?" Andrew tips his head back to blow a plume of smoke upwards, and his gaze slides slowly from the snow-tipped skyline to Neil.

"I do, and so did you when you got involved with me."

His smile is cheeky and deliberately inviting, which works like a charm; Andrew hooks one finger into the neck of his sweater below his scarf and hauls him in for a kiss. His nose is freezing, but Andrew's mouth is warm enough to distract him from the chill for a while.

"I did not know," Andrew says, when they eventually part. "Though you had my name and Kevin's on you, so maybe that should have tipped me off."

Neil gives a quiet snort of laughter and shifts a little so their shoulders are brushing.

"That means you carry the names of two idiots, so what does that say about you?"

"Do not make me throw you off this balcony," Andrew says, though it's been five years, and Neil has yet to be flung from any rooftop, balcony, or window where they've done this. By this point, he's pretty sure it's an idle threat.

He's about to tell Andrew as much and risk being proven wrong when the sound of the door opening catches his attention.

"Are you two seriously sitting out here? It's freezing," Kevin grouches. Neil's stomach flips a little at the sight of him, and he holds out a hand.

"This is what happens when you refuse to let people smoke in the apartment," Andrew says, but at the exact same moment Neil says, "Most people just say  _Hello, I missed you_ , Kevin," so it takes Kevin a moment to untangle the statements.

He looks from one to the other before sighing, remaining firmly inside the apartment.

"I don't let you smoke in the apartment because we're only going to be here another few months and I want our security deposit back. And yes, I did miss you. Now come inside before you catch your death. If I send you back to Palmetto sick, my dad will kill me."

"Getting cold from being cold is a myth," Neil says, but he's already wriggling down from the wall. His ass is asleep, and he can't feel his face... But then Kevin is there, so warm that Neil forgets all his complaints as he's tugged first inside, and then into a hug.

Neither Andrew nor Kevin are particularly holiday-minded people, so their place doesn't have much in the way of decorations, just a row of cards from the other Foxes above the mantlepiece, and a tiny plastic tree in the window.

Remembering the day Neil gave it to him makes his heart clench a little, and he squeezes Kevin tighter.

"I missed you, too," he says, pressing his cheek to Kevin's chest, right above the spot where his name is written. Kevin's fingers stroke along his back, and they stay like that until Andrew bangs the door shut behind him.

"I am ordering pizza," he says, and then points a finger at Kevin. "And I won't entertain any complaints."

Kevin looks like he might test that, but then Neil reaches up to bite his lower lip and he seems to decide he can do better things with his mouth than argue.

They end up on the couch, and Andrew joins them when he's finished with his phonecall.

"Fifty minutes, give or take," he says absently, sliding one hand into Neil's hair. "It's the snow."

"Fuck the snow," Kevin says peevishly. "When you graduate, we're looking for a team somewhere warmer."

Kevin had offers from almost every team in the country after he graduated, but he'd known long before then that he'd be spending the first two years with the Charlotte Chargers.

"If you want to go to head South, be my guest," Andrew says, clearly not feeling guilty in the least. "You can be the next Florida Man.  _Florida Man Choked to Death by Soulmate with Own Exy Racquet_. For example."

"Florida Man Generously Overlooks Deliberate Verbal Provocation from Soulmate in Accordance with the Festive Season," Kevin says dryly.

"Ah, but you haven't moved yet," Andrew points out. "Technically: it would be North Carolina Man, currently."

"That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." Neil tips his head back up to look at Andrew. Kevin looks briefly pleased by this interjection before Neil adds: "Charlotte Man?"

"I hate you both," Kevin sighs, reaching for the remote.

Andrew casts Neil a satisfied look, but his fingers slide across the back of the couch and hook into the neck of Kevin's shirt. They're still pretty cold, Neil knows, but Kevin leans into the touch just the same.

Neil settles in to wait for the pizza, dozing a little as Andrew and Kevin bicker about the movie. Fox Tower, Columbia, Charlotte— it doesn't matter; as long he is with them, he is home for the holidays, and that's all that matters.

* * *

  **this year**

* * *

"Andrew, for the love of god, if you don't get your damn cats—"

"They're Neil's cats," Andrew says from the table, cutting Kevin off before he can even finish his sentence. "Neil's cats, your dog— I'm the only one who  _didn't_  bring an animal into this house."

"So get a ferret and stop trying to lord it over us," Kevin snaps, picking up the offending animal and holding it up to his face. "Stop walking on the table. It's unhygienic."

The cat seems about as interested in his lecture as Andrew does; it swipes lazily at his face with no actual intention of connecting and then just stares balefully at him until he puts it down.

 _Neil's_  cats. Sure. They've certainly taken after Andrew in personality.

"Where is Neil, anyway?"

"On a last-minute decoration run," Andrew says, and Kevin groans. At this rate, if they don't end up shorting out the power for half the neighbourhood or getting chewed out by the HOA, they'll be lucky. They have an actual house now, the three of them, and Neil's determined that they do Christmas right this year, considering they'll be together for all of it.

Neil's definition of "right", for this year at least, apparently involves several miles of multi-coloured Christmas lights. Kevin put his foot down at any illuminated figurines (though he's pretty sure Neil only suggested those to fuck with him and Andrew), but by this point, every window and door in the building is definitively and thoroughly  _decked_.  

He slides into the chair across from Andrew and snags a frosted cookie from the plate in front of him. Andrew raises a brow, but says nothing, only kicking his foot lightly against Kevin's under the table.

"I don't know where he thinks he's going to put them unless he plans on making a Christmas light burrito of himself and standing on the front lawn."

The mental image makes him snort; with the right clothes and his red hair, Neil could actually pass for a pretty good Christmas elf— a thought he wisely elects to keep to himself.

Andrew reaches for another cookie, drums his fingers on the edge of the plate, then shoves it towards Kevin. It's a not-so-subtle encouragement to have another, which —in the spirit of the season— Kevin does.

"You think he's making up for it not feeling... I don't know,  _Christmassy_  here?" Kevin asks eventually, and Andrew finally lifts his gaze from his phone to study him.

"I doubt Neil knows what  _Christmassy_  feels like," he says slowly. "Do you?"

Kevin notices he skips completely over himself in that comparison, but lets it slide.

"It is the first one I've had where it's seventy degrees out."

Kevin's actually not complaining about that— he vastly prefers San Diego to Charlotte, and while they probably won't be here for too long, either, there's something nice about being able to have Christmas without worrying his idiots will die of frostbite every time they go outside for a cigarette.

"Not the only first about it," Andrew says, and Kevin shifts a little under the weight of his gaze.

"No, it's not."

There are a million things they're not saying, but by this point, Kevin isn't sure they really need to be said. There are things which are new, and which are not new, and which they are glad are behind them— but for all of those things, they are still here.

At the sound of Neil's car, Andrew pushes back from the table.

"I'm going out for a cigarette. Go help him with whatever shit he's bought, and don't let the cats out."

"I thought they weren't your cats?"

"You also thought I'd get a  _ferret_ , so that shows how much you know," Andrew says, though he drops a kiss on Kevin's temple on his way out. Kevin ghosts his hand across Andrew's hip as he passes, feeling his mark through the denim as much from years of experience as Andrew's little shiver.

Neil's unpacking bags from the trunk when Kevin makes his way outside, and he freezes when he sees Kevin. He's lucky the deer-in-the-headlights look is a good one for him, which Kevin points out as he relieves him of some of the bags.

"You know you're going overboard?"

"Maybe," Neil admits, and Kevin has to suppress a groan as he looks into one of the bags to discover it's entirely filled with baubles. "They're pet-safe," Neil says, and that really wasn't Kevin's primary concern, but it's good to know, he supposes.

"Neil—"

"I know, Kevin, okay? I just remember what it was like last year when I had to go back to school, and the year before that when we had to leave you behind, and—"

He breaks off there, but they've been together long enough that he knows the rest of that sentence without Neil having to give voice to it:  _I remember all the Christmases that came before, wondering where you were and wanting to be with you and being alone instead._

Kevin's a soft touch for Neil (for both of them, if he's honest with himself), so he just nods, his free hand slipping into Neil's hair.

"Yeah," he says. "Okay. It's kind of out-doing our usual tree, though."

"I'm putting that over the fireplace," Neil says, and Kevin has to admit that's as good a place as any, considering they certainly won't be needing heating. "Pride of place. And I got Coach to send me some stuff from the school gift shop for it."

"I'm never going to escape the orange, am I?" Kevin asks. Neil just shakes his head, and his smile is beatific.

Kevin quietly concludes that maybe an overabundance of orange is really a small price to pay, for this.

They manage to get back inside without letting out the cats or the dog, something Kevin considers a triumph, and then they start unpacking. It really  _doesn't_  feel especially Christmassy without the chill in the air, but it feels better: it feels like home, like belonging, like safety and contentment.

They talk about Exy until Andrew joins them and puts a moratorium on it, taking up position on the couch and directing their decoration efforts until Kevin decides the house is garish enough, and that it's been far too long since he's had his hands on Neil.

Andrew directs that, too.

Afterwards, they're curled in their bed, Neil's head on Kevin's chest while Andrew strokes random patterns over their arms, fingers lightly skimming over their marks until Neil gets bold enough to press his mouth to where his name is written at the curve of  Andrew's neck.

By the time they tumble through another round, it's almost midnight, and despite the unseasonal heat, Kevin hears a bell tolling somewhere in the distance, ringing in the holiday.

"Merry Christmas," he mumbles.

Neil curls a little closer, a sleepy smile on his lips, and Andrew tugs lightly on Kevin's hair in lieu of a verbal response. He highly doubts that every holiday will be as pleasant as this one, and there are still a world of things they have to address one day, but they are home, and it's the holidays. He's not missing either of them, and that's everything he needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me [@onlycareaboutexy](https://onlycareaboutexy.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr if you'd like to scream about Kandreil specifically, or Kevin Day in general! ❤️


End file.
